Saab Hasan capsicum sprayed by police

The Victoria Racing Club and Racing Victoria will investigate an incident where Flemington trainer Saab Hasan was capsicum-sprayed by a police officer at the course on Tuesday night.

Hasan explained that the incident occurred when he was attempting to return to his Flemington stable at about 6:45pm following the Melbourne Cup meeting, having been at the Wangaratta races with mare Red Gucci, who had scored her maiden win that afternoon.

Hasan claimed a police officer refused him entry to his stables despite having shown his industry pass and photo identification. Hasan said that he then got out of his car to unload the horse from the float to walk it to his stables, when the officer capsicum-sprayed him.

"I was actually quite dumbfounded," he told RSN 927 on Wednesday morning. "I said 'I have to get the horse in the track' as I couldn't leave it on the float, particularly as Wangaratta is a three-hour drive and we got stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes as we tried to punch through traffic on the Smithfield Rd entrance.

"He refused me entry and said I have to keep going straight. 'You've left me no choice' I said and 'I am going to unload the horse and walk it home' and he said 'If you do that I am going to arrest you', so I said 'The welfare of my horse comes first' so I got out of my car to take the horse off the float and he capsicum sprayed me.

"He did not want to listen to any reasoning. He said 'You can't come in that's it'. I asked him why. I thought there might be a reason."

Hasan said he reported the incident to the Moonee Ponds Police Station and said he said he was told that a complaint would be lodged on his behalf.

"The sad part about it I didn't use any force towards the officer - I would never do that sort of thing," Hasan said. "Here he is using unnecessary force on myself and treating me like a criminal when I am clearly an industry participant trying to go about my job.

"I am taking it further because bullying people is not the way to go. It was a dog act. He should never have done it."

Representatives from RV and the VRC indicated on Wednesday that the incident is being looked into further before any comment is made.